


Be Careful What You Wish For

by Supernova95



Category: Batman (Comics), DCU, DCU - Comicverse
Genre: Angst, Gen, Magic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-03-14
Updated: 2013-03-15
Packaged: 2017-12-05 07:58:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,716
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/720694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Supernova95/pseuds/Supernova95
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Damian meets a magic user who grants him one wish: that Tim never became part of the Batfamily</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

"Tt, Drake could you be anymore useless." Well, yes he probably could. He could use the Batcomputer, at least that was something. "Then again what can be expected from a weakling like you" there is was, the face scrunch, the involuntary twitch that Drake didn't even know he had, the twitch that told Damian his words were annoying him, hitting a sore point, and he smiled. It's another one of Drake's flaws, he, of course, with his blood status have no such flaws.

"Why don't you go bother someone else Damian, I'm not really in the mood for this right now"

"Tt like I would want to be around you, no Father sent me up here to tell you that he needs you suited up for patrol in ten minutes."

"Fine, now get out" he didn't need to be told twice, really he didn't need to be told at all. He had no wish to be around Drake and his annoying quirks and flaws, anyway he should probably get ready for patrol also.

"Father?" They were in the cave checking their lines for the night.

"Yes Damian..." He sounded tired, he hadn't sounded like this since he was getting Drake's emancipation revoked. Apparently just because he could support himself, didn't mean he could take care of himself... Something about not eating enough, stress induced anxiety attacks and hospitalisation because he was exhausted and malnourished.

The hospital wouldn't release him into his own care because, technically, he had broken the terms of his emancipation. Drake wasn't pleased, but Grayson, father and Pennyworth couldn't be happier.

He was annoyed; it meant having Drake around the manor until he turned eighteen.

"Why are we letting Drake accompany us? He is still too frail and would merely hinder our patrol" father let out an elongated sigh, meaning he was annoyed at Damian; it had been happening a lot lately, especially since Drake had returned to the manor.

"Are you saying that because you fear for Tim's safety, or because you just don't like him?" Damian was silent. He had found out the hard way that it is best not to argue with his father when he used that condescending tone of voice. "Tim has been fit for a week, I see absolutely no reason why he shouldn't be on patrol." He huffed, it was true Drake had regained... substantial muscle mass, enough that he could at least fit into his suit without it being extremely baggy, but any further argument from him on the matter was silenced by Drake entering the cave with Grayson wrapped around him like a koala, trying to hold him back.

"Awwww, but Timmy... five more minutes..." Grayson fashioned a sizeable pout.

"You of all people know that when Bruce says ten minutes he means ten minutes." Drake glared back at Grayson who transformed his face into what Pennyworth called 'puppy dog eyes' "... Fine..." Anything else he had to say was cut off by Grayson's squeal and having the air knocked out of him by a tackle hug.

Drake was pathetic, he would have never given into Grayson so easily.

"Ahem... Dick could you continue your attack on Tim *after* patrol?"

"Aww, but the cuddle was just getting good!" Father took one look at the two of them; Grayson's reinvigorated enthusiastic cuddling and Drake's pathetic plea for help.

"Dick..."

"Alright, alright... But we will continue this later Timmy..." And he literally jumped to the changing room. Drake mouthed a thank-you to Father as he put on his bike helmet and swung his leg over the 'Redbird'...and father smiled back.

Father smiled at *Drake*.

Now Damian was really annoyed. His father never smiled at him like that, like he wasn't a lethal assassin trained heir to the League of Assassins, like he was actually supposed to be part of the family, like he was loved.

No whenever father smiled at him it was forced. A small mandatory grimace that looked more like pity than anything else. Why should they pity him?

Drake obviously needed it more than him; or at least that's how everyone in the 'family' had been acting lately. What with their doting, and over cuddling, and the *smiling* and -

"Robin" the wind rushed from his lungs as another body piled into him and they hit the floor; hard.

Red Robin. Drake. The source of all his problems.

He'll never be as smart as the precious third child. He'll never been as controlled, as gracious, as subtly dangerous. No it's all try harder Damian, we don't kill Damian, he's your brother Damian.

Then he thought maybe, just maybe, when Grayson  **chose** him to be Robin over Drake, they would stop comparing him to that overly perfect walking angel of death. But no, he was mistaken, well almost mistaken because; although he was no longer directly compared and contrasted to the imbecile they never stopped annoying him with their constant conversations about him.

In the months Drake was off searching for  **his**  father all he seemed to hear out of Grayson and Pennyworth was "Do you know where Tim is?" "Have you heard from Master Timothy lately?" "I'm really worried about Tim Alfred, I messed up and now I don't know what to do" really, if Drake wished to go and get himself killed that was up to him, why they were so worried about him... after all he was the perfect kid that Damian should aspire to be like... wasn't that what the were always telling him?

And now the idiot had distracted him from patrol, and was mercilessly taking down the thugs that Damian had been fighting. "Red Robin I *had* that." because he would have had that if Drake hadn't come along.

"Really? So you're faster than a speeding bullet now are you? You know what? I don't care, go and get yourself shot, learning your own mortality might be a good thing." And with that he left, grappled to the nearest rooftop and ran. Leaving Damian with the cleanup.

He never had been very good at the comforting the victims part of this job. He just wasn't a very comforting person, what with being brought up in a league of assassins, comfort is not the first thing on everybody's minds. But, nevertheless, he turned to offer a few kind words, an escorted walk to the police staton, something along those lines. He did not expect the woman whom he was saving to approach him in a confident and suspicious manner.

"Thank-you little one, what is troubling you so?" That was... weird, weird because *nobody* asked how the superhero saviour was in these affairs, that's not how it worked. He was supposed to look all dashing and chivalrous and ask them, comfort them etcetera... not the other way around.

Of course he had no  _intention_  of answering her... but words flooded out of his mouth anyway.

"That imbecile ruins everything, I wish that he had never become part of my father's family."

"Surely he is not hat bad?" She was hypnotic, her red lips highlighted against fair skin. Her dark green eyes shone in the dimly lit alleyway, her hair, almost as black as night, floated as though it weighed nothing, as though it, along with pale green dress, were immersed in a pool of clear water.

"He is. He is a pathetic imbecilic idiot and he doesn't belong here." Damian turned his back on the captivating woman as though she was the cause of his free tongue, his sudden willingness to share his hatred with those outside the family, those who meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.

She probably was.

"Your wish is my command little one" the silky soft voice cut through the darkness, it was so quiet he almost missed it; and yet at the same time it carried an air of confidence which just didn't seem to belong.

 _Your wish is my command...?_ What?

"What did you mean by your wish is my command?" He turns around expecting to be able to corner the woman in the dead end alley about just what she meant by that but by the time he did she was nowhere to be found.

"Robin meet me on top of Wayne Tower, we're heading home" Batman radioed through a private channel.

"Why!?"

"You're sloppy and unfocused. You almost took a bullet for no apparent reason, I'm not having you get yourself killed. We. Are. Going. Home." Drake must have told him, and now he looked like a bumbling buffoon.

"Yes father." No point adding salt to the wound.

Damian couldn't sleep. It was weird and new and worrying all at the same time. He was perfect he  **didn't** suffer from insomnia.

But tonight he did.

What the weird lady had said was worrying him, gnawing at the very core of his being.  _Your wish is my command_ what was she going to do? Did that mean she would get rid of Drake, because that could only be a blessing.

He must have drifted off at some point because the next thing he knew he was being woken up by a slam of a door and a scream for Alfred.

It was not yet light, four thirty two according to his alarm clock... That wasn't *his* alarm clock.

"Todd!? What are you doing here?" Nothing, no death threat no satirically un-witty comeback, just a squinting of his eyes and a sudden attack that left Damian's neck in a death lock sprawled out on his *not his* bed.

"Who are you? And how do you know who I am?"

"Todd-?" This Todd was different... Younger... A little fresher from the pit.

"Jason, what's going on? What's wron- who's that?" Grayson was the same as always, just more tired and a few more scars. Scars Damian knew he didn't have the previous night.

"Dunno, he was in my room when I got back from patrol."

"Grayson I demand to know what is going on. Where is father?"

"I'm sorry kid, I don't know who  **you**  are, let alone who your father is."

"Grayson? How do you not know me? I'm Damian. Damian Wayne; the person you appointed as Robin after father was lost in time and you sacked Drake."

"The kid's crazy."

"Jay, he knows who we are, what we do..."

"So what are you saying?" They proceed to have a conversation in meaningful looks and fleeting glances. Like the ones Grayson and Drake have, but these were more... intense, more fluid, like Grayson and Todd made up the language; they probably did. "Fine, but he,a not staying here"

"Alfred's making up the room next door to mine", wasn't that room also taken?

"Isn't that Drake's room?" Then again, if Todd's room had moved Drake's had probably moved also.

"Kid I really have no idea who this Drake is."

"Well, his name's not really Drake... it's Timothy... Tim. He replaced Todd after he... died."

"No one replaced me."

"What? But then what happened about my father?" As much as he hated Drake he  **had** listened to the stories of how he saved father from his violent depression after Todd's death at the hand of the Joker.

"One, kid he's not just your father and two, why on earth should we tell you anything?" There was that anger Damian knew so well.

"Little Wing..."

"I still don't see why we should Dick, I'm sorry that I don't trust little runts that  **magically**  appear in my bed over night." Oh no _..._   _I wish that he had never become part of my father's family,_ oh no _._ Magic, the woman... she hadn't had she?

Damian could feel his face paling.

"Now look what you've done Jason... Hey kid, he didn't really mean that, please don't get upset..."

He had to get to his father, to the cave, to Gotham... anywhere, he had to find out what he had done. He took what he had been taught and flipped Todd off of him, causing the elder boy to land hard on the carpet, flat on his back, and, dodging Grayson, Damian ran to the study hoping that the cave still opened to his grand parents's death date and time.

It did.

He knew he had changed the timeline. He just didn't know by how much.

The Batcave... Was in ruins, quite literally. The computer consoles had been smashed beyond repair, the trophy room destroyed, Todd's case; smashed to pieces. There were no vehicles in the dark cavern, nor were there any costumes or equipment.

Damian slumped... What could have caused this? Surely not Drake's absence.

"We don't use the cave anymore. Not since..." Grayson's voice emanated from behind him. "We use a bunker under Wayne Tower now, it's more convenient, closer to the city, to the chaos..."

Chaos, what was he talking about? Had his father let the city become like the cave. Surely he would not, he lived for Gotham, he would not be so careless.

A hand was placed on his shoulder.

"Kid..."

"Where is my father?" They shared a look.

"We'll take you to the bunker, get you some clothes your size... I think we kept some from the time I got de-aged, and we'll talk." Damian wanted to talk now, by he had been around Grayson long enough to know that, in matters like this, once his mind was made up, his mind was made up. He nodded and they led him to one of the less flashy cars in the Wayne garage.

The drive into the city at three o'clock was quick. All of the Wayne cars had blacked out windows so Damian couldn't see what was outside... apparently he wouldn't want to. The reason why became apparent when they arrived at the bunker. In the middle of the room sat a large circular computer system, all the monitors were switched on and displaying the same loops of data the cave did.

Most of Gotham was in ruins.

The downtown financial district was the only screen that sort of resembled what his Gotham was like. The rest... well for once Grayson was not being hyperbolic.

The warehouse district was a derelict arsonist playground; Robinson park was overgrown and running wild with Poison Ivy's plants; as far as he could see two tunnels had flooded and only two of the bridges were functional. All connections to Arkham and Blackgate by foot and road had been severed.

Most of Gotham was alight and in turmoil.

Damian was horrified. "How could my father let this happen? His mission... Gotham was his life... Please tell me he's not... Please." He was showing weakness, his voice was cracking in strange ways, it was small and sounded a lot like Drake's did when Damian first became Robin.

His chest hurt, in a sharp throbbing aching pain. "Please..." He was begging now. His cheeks were wet with streaks of tears. When arms wrapped themselves around him he span into the hug and squeezed back.

He didn't like feeling weak. It made him feel vulnerable.

"Hey, shush, c'mon now, Bruce is fine."

"Then how?" He was picked up a put on one of the tables. Todd took a blood sample and went to sit down at one of the consoles. Grayson sat on the table next to him slowly running his had through Damian's hair.

"After the Joker killed Jason Bruce, Bruce dived head first into a deep depression. He, he started to get more and more violent, and I hadn't noticed. I kept brushing off Alfred whenever he tried to tell me, I had been a suckish big brother to Jason, at first I didn't even know he had died. I had my own problems to deal with... and I only came back to Gotham after...

"After I heard that The Batman had beaten the Joker into a coma.

"When I got back Bruce wasn't the same, he barely ate, never slept... kept repeating the same apologies about Jason over and over again. He still went out every night... He killed three people before we stopped him. After that he completely broke down, he destroyed the cave, he never came out of his room, he completely rejected Alfred or my company.

"The Joker's eventual death completed his mental breakdown and he was institutionalised... In Arkham.

"And Gotham descended into chaos, a chaos that we haven't been able to crawl out of."

It was all too much to take in. Had Drake really saved Gotham from all... this? He stopped his father from breaking down, stopped him from killing the Joker, stopped the world from burning.

"But why is he still there... Todd is back, there is no reason-"

"He's too far gone, we go and see him every day... He thinks he's talking to ghosts, he thinks he killed us both. He thinks he's killed everyone h cares for."

Whatever Damian was about to say was cut off by a baterang thrown directly at his head.

"Jason... What?" Grayson started but Todd's angry growl cut him off before he could get very far.

"System's got a match, he's working for Ra's. I've linked him to at least seventeen murders across the globe." He hadn't killed seventeen people... and Grandfather and Mother had told him that he was not yet ready to be given missions from the league, and even if he had been given missions, they would never be able to link him to one, let alone seventeen  **he**  would have never been that clumsy.

Beating around the bush was not going to work here he could tell. "Ra's Al Ghul is my Grandfather, Talia Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne are my parents. In my timeline I was sent to my father by my mother, originally to gather information... I decided to defect from the league placing a five hundred million dollar bounty on my head. Obviously in this timeline Batman was never the problem to the league he is in mine, so I was never sent here, so I never defected, so I am an assassin for the league. But believe me, if that was  **me** you would never have been able to link me to seventeen assassinations,  _I'm_ not that clumsy."

"That's one hell of a story kid, but why should we believe you? Ra's could have sent you here, ask you to tell us something like that, so we'd believe you, take you in, trust you. And then you kill us."

"So he's Bruce's son?" Todd nodded. "Jay..."

"No. No Dick, we are not trusting him, we can't lose anyone else... I can't lose you"

"You're not going to lose me Jaybird. But... I think we should hear the kid out."

"Why?"

"I've just got a feeling about him"

"Those are the feelings that usually get you killed... I would know, they're the same ones I had about my mom."

"Jay... If he was here to kill us don't you think he would have brought at least something with him. He's literally in his pyjamas. If you're worried about him finding something then we'll go back to the manor since it's still Bruce proof." Todd still looked sceptical. "If it helps we can tie him to a chair."

"He had training, he'd probably be able to break the bonds."

"We'll use really really strong bonds" Todd started laughing. It was weird, his laugh not being forced, strained or sarcastic. It was strangely nice.

"Okay, we'll get him some clothes, take him back to the manor, tie him to a chair using very strong bonds, and set Al on him, deal."

"Deal."

Wayne Manor, like the rest of Bristol, was in pristine condition, despite what was going on in Gotham itself.

They really weren't kidding about tying him to a chair.

"And who, young masters, is this?"

"The kid who was in Jay's room earlier" Grayson made a weird motion with his hands, and a sort of bow... He keeps getting stranger by the day.

"And why is he tied to one of the dining room chairs? I thought I was preparing him a room because he is to  _stay_ with us, not be our prisoner." This time Todd spoke,

"He's Ra's Al Ghul's grandson. I don't trust him not to kill us." The teen was as blunt as ever.

"I am Damian Wayne, and for the last time Todd, I am not here to kill you. I just want to get home." The butler's eyes widened in recognition.

"Oh my, Master Bruce is your father."

"Yes, and all I want is to go home."

"And where is home Master Damian?"

"Here, but not  _here_."

"You're going to have to explain that Master Damian, as far as I know there is only one Wayne manor."

"There is... But at my Wayne Manor there is a functional Batcave and my father lives here but Grayson and Todd do not, we have a dog named Titus and Drake has also begun living there again as well."

"You still haven't told us who this Drake is..."

"Tt, actually Todd, I did. He is Timothy Drake, and he became Robin after you died."

"Yeah, not ringing any bells..."

"Master Damian, did you say Drake?" Damian nodded, any answer would sound aloof.

"What is it Alfred?"

"I supposed you were a bit too young to remember Master Richard but there was a Drake family here in Gotham. Jack and Janet Drake, CEOs of Drake Industries at it's height about eight years ago it rivalled Wayne Enterprises here in Gotham, they were, at the time, trying to expand into other states and so were away from Gotham a lot.

"As far as I can remember they had a young son, and I believe he was called Timothy."

"Alfred, you said had, past tense."

"Indeed I did Master Richard. It was quite the tragedy, the boy disappeared from his bed one night only to be found the next day in Gotham hypothermic and slowly bleeding out of a gunshot wound to his abdomen. He was of course rushed to Gotham General but there was nothing they could do.

"There was an investigation, with the police thinking he had been kidnapped. It turned out that he had left on his own accord to go into the city."

"Was he found with a camera?"

"... Master Damian, how did you know that?"

"It's what Drake would do."

"What the hell would a kid be doing in Gotham at night with a camera?"

"Following Batman and Robin."

"What?!" Damian was met with two shouts and a disbelieving whisper.

"You were his idols, you helped people, he admired that. He figured out your identities when he was nine, followed you at night, took pictures. In my timeline he saw that father was becoming more violent, more reckless, he realised that Batman needed a Robin and he became the new Robin."

"Just like that Bruce let some random kid become Robin?"

"No, first he went to you, and told you that father was slowly losing it to grief. He asked you to become Robin again, and you refused, you said you would help in Gotham as Nightwing but would never return to your old costumed identity. Then he save father and yourself from Two-Face, and father agreed to take him on as long as he trained with martial arts masters across the world first. Which he did and then he became Robin and Gotham returned somewhat to normality." He was surprised at his own knowledge of Drake, then again he did make it his business to know  **everything** about his adversaries, why should Drake be any different?

The three older men stared at him

"I, I never even noticed him." Damian could almost hear the guilt and grief churning in Grayson's head, "It didn't have to happen, he didn't have to die. Why didn't we ever notice him?"

"He can practically disappear when he wants to, even before being trained by father, he wasn't remarkable... Just a lonely kid in a big house with nothing to do" at least there he and Drake had something in common, the families they had didn't want them, so they found a new one.

"That's no excuse, we were Batman and Robin, a whole lot of good we were if we can't even save one kid..."

"That may have been my fault" there really was no denying it, and if he wanted to get back to his own time he had to be straight with them.

"How exactly do you figure that kid?"

"We were on patrol and I was annoyed at Drake, he is always getting father's attention simply because he cannot take care of himself. Father always looks at him like he means the world, but he never looks at me at he same way, like I belong. It's like he can't see past the fact that I am a trained assassin, even one who had rebelled and been excommunicated from those he called family... And so I may have wished, directly in front of a magic user, that he had never become part of our family... Which obviously led to this" he gestured to the skyscrapers of Gotham out of the window.

"You're kidding, one kid's death couldn't lead to this..."

"Technically this is both yours and Drake's fault" at the disbelieving look on Todd's face he expanded, "Drake may have been too busy being dead to save my father, but you were the one who died in the first place"

"Don't go blaming this on me kid, you're the one who wanted the Drake kid dead." Something broke in Damian... Smashed to a thousand sharp little pieces that tore up his insides. A thousand cuts that made him clench his stomach in pain and whisper;

"I never wanted him dead, I'm sorry, I just want things to go back to the way they were." His eyes stung with tears; this... didn't happen to him. He was Damian Wayne, he did not cry,  _especially not about Drake._

"Hey, hey Dami" Todd gave Grayson a look that said *you really shouldn't be giving the trained assassin who may or may not be sent by Ra's t kill us a nickname*, Damian rolled his eyes, even I this darker more violent and chaotic timeline Grayson still felt the need to give him a stupid nickname... At least he knew it was Grayson. "Don't cry, tell us about your timeline, I'm guessing it's better than this." Damian nodded.

"We'll for one thing you are much happier..."

"Wait... Dick can get happier?"

"Annoyingly so... Does he spring hugs on you at anytime of day, force you to go on outings with him to the zoo and such and have all night movie nights?" Todd cast his eyes to the floor

"He used to..." Damian had lived at the manor long enough to know when to change the subject conversation

"Plus, father is not in incarcerated in Arkham, he is still Batman, I am his Robin. You are Nightwing and recently moved back to Gotham from Bludhaven after it was blown up..."

"BLUDHAVEN BLEW UP?! Since when did Bludhaven blow up?"

"We'll, it didn't blow up exactly... A living chemical weapon was dropped on it, killing thousands of people with toxic chemical waste."

"How exactly is your world better than ours?"

"That was during one of the multiversal crisis that we have and before my time... But Gotham is the cleanest it had been in years, father is planning a citywide development project... Yes we do have that much money, and some to spare; he has started something called Batman Incorporated, which aim is to place a batman in every country across the globe, and had announced at Wayne Enterprises is its financial backer. Drake has re-started Neon Knights, also taking that global. We haven't had a crisis in almost a years and things are also very quiet on the criminal mastermind front." He spoke in a matter of fact manner, how he had been taught to deal with matters if business.

"So I'm still dead?" Although that threw him, how was he supposed to tell this Todd that; no you're not dead, but you're a 'trigger happy maniac' who took on the Joker's old name out of spite and wanting to be dead again. He wouldn't, he would lie, it's how he was brought up after all.

"No, you live in Gotham, sometimes joining us on patrol, but most of the time you are off on your own trying to stop the dealers"

"Sounds like something you would do Jay..." Todd stared at him for a moment, face hard... Before it softened and he smiled.

"Okay kid... How do we get you home?"

"What exactly did you say?" He had been over this a hundred times, Zatanna Zatara obviously couldn't comprehend him.

"'That imbecile ruins everything, I wish that he had never become part of my father's family' and 'He is a pathetic imbecilic idiot and he doesn't belong here'" she was concentrating again and needed silence, apparently it was a tricky spell, only when she opened her eyes did Todd speak,

"You really don't like him do you?"

"I didn't no, that was before I realised how much him not being here hurts. You didn't either Todd, you beat him up, a lot"

"Why would I..."

"He was your replacement, you felt like Bruce had betrayed you, but you're on better terms now" since I came along and tried to kill him too.

Though it was true Father and Todd were again speaking, he had even come over for thanksgiving that year.

"Z, is it reversible?"

"Yeah, whoever completed the wish left a pretty obvious trail as to how to reverse it... She must have hoped you'd change your mind... All you have to do is say this" she passed him a piece if paper with a spell on it and just as he opened his most to ask why she couldn't do it he continued "it has to be you because you are the focus of the wish, the magic user you met left enough magical residue on you for the reversal"

I hsiw ekard saw trap fo ruo ylimaf niaga.  _I wish Drake was part of our family again._


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluffy Epilogue

They were gone, just like that, no flashing lights or cheap sound effects just gone…

The room was empty and in a lot better condition, the previously cracked glass windows were whole again, the hardwood floor was polished and not mouldy. the room smelled fresh, and like the cleaning agents that Pennyworth regularly used.

A smile grew on his face as he  _ran_  out of the room and bounded up the stairs to his room; it was lived in and immaculate, just like  **he**  left it.

Drake's room was there, lived in and freakishly organised in his OCD way. It was… nice, it made *Damian* smile and a strange bubbly feeling rise in his chest.

It was an interesting feeling, like there was something fluttering in his stomach. It wasn't like the pain in his chest he had felt before, but more of a; happy, filling feeling. Like he had been alone for so long but no he wasn't.

Hands reached around his shoulders and squeezed,

"Dami, what'r you still doin up?" A groggy Grayson was obviously devoid of his 'Little Brother' cuddles.

"I… I couldn't sleep"

"Nuuugggh" Grayson squeezed harder "Little Brother needs sleep"

"Tell that to Drake"

"Tried, wouldn't listen, thought you would be more cooperative"

"Pfft. Tt, I'm insulted Grayson; obviously in all our time working together you did not learn a thing about me. I am anything but cooperative. Now if you would kindly unhand me I would like to go talk to Drake" Grayson shifted a bit and Damian turned to face his brow creased elder brother "Do not look at me like that Grayson I merely wish to apologise" a smile grew on the man's face, he let go returning to his own room, stopping in the doorway to look at him with… pride? it was the same look his mother and grandfather used to give him.

It was one of the first times he had seen any such look in this household, perhaps he could be  _happy_ here after all.

Drake was  **not**  in his room, the workaholic was probably still down in the cave.

He slowly made his way down there, thinking of how he would approach his apology when Drake cam out of the kitchen, a protein shake in hand,

"DRAKE?!"

"What is it Damian? If you want me to apologise for calling Bruce I'm not going to do it, you were somewhere else… You were going to get yourself… Umf, killed?" Tim was really surprised to have himself barrelled into by an assassin trained ten year old, who, until that moment, had given no notion of wanting anything more that to see Tim dead. "Damian are you feeling alright?"

The small boy looked up at him; (Tim was going to savour this because in a few years Damian would out grow him, he'll probably be as big as Bruce one day) and nodded, his eyes shining in tears, and Tim doesn't think that he's ever seen Damian cry.

"I'm sorry… Please don't ever die, I'm glad your here, I really am." He couldn't care less that he was hugging Drake because the pains in his chest and stomach were gone and he felt happy for the first time in a long time.

"Um, it's okay Damian I'm counting on being around for a long time yet… please stop crying, I'm kinda emotionally stunted and I don't do well when another emotionally stunted person clings to me and cries, it's more awkward than when Dick does it… sorry, did I mention that I'm at that stage of sleep deprivation where I get really light headed and don't know what I'm saying?"

Damian stared at him, a growl growing in his chest and grabbed his hand, dragging him upstairs and into his room, shutting the door, and forced the older boy onto the bed and securing him there using an array of blankets and his own body.

Tim smiled at him.

"I love you too Damian"

 


End file.
